Dental Sealants Highland Park and plastic coatings for your teeth protect your bicuspids, molars, and premolars. Applying this substance to the chewing surfaces prevents acids and plaque from eroding the enamel. The molars and premolars need to be sealed because they have grooves on their chewing surfaces that might serve as a perfect spot for food particles to get stuck, Food particles can be converted into acids that eat away at the tooth enamel and cause cavities if they are left in any of these cavities. Tooth sealants are often used as a precautionary measure when a patient is more prone to getting cavities.
Due to the usual lack of adequate oral health care, especially in young children, dental sealants are used. It is also more frequent for teenagers than adults because of their eating habits.
Are Dental Sealants Permanent?
The answer is no. Dental sealants don’t last your entire lifetime. The problem with dental sealants is that they wear down over time due to the excessive chewing forces that molars are subjected to on a regular basis. Thus, it is recommended that your child’s sealant be checked on a regular basis to ensure that it is still intact.
Dental sealants that have become damaged or worn can trap decay-causing bacteria beneath the sealant, resulting in the formation of dental cavities. To avoid this, you must take your child to the dentist at least once every six months.
What Are Some Indications For Tooth Sealants To Be Used?
Although dental sealants are recommended for all children to be placed as soon as possible after the development of permanent molars, there are clear indicators for when they must be placed. In order to prevent dental caries, these indications primarily stem from problems that would end up causing the patient to be considered high caries risk. These are some indications that it is time to use dental sealants:
- Patients are at a higher risk of caries due to a lack of fluoride exposure, poor oral hygiene, previous and current caries experience, and any current orthodontic condition treatment.
- Teeth with enamel defects, such as MIH, must be sealed even if the enamel defects make bonding teeth sealants Highland Park to the tooth difficult. The deteriorated enamel makes these teeth more susceptible to dental decay.
- Patients with a complicated medical history, such as those with underlying systemic diseases, may have an increased caries risk due to medication-induced dry mouth or prolonged treatment, which may impair a patient’s ability to maintain adequate oral hygiene and a low-sugar diet.
- Early carious abnormalities should be treated with tooth sealants to avoid invasive dental restorations. Dental sealants could be used to treat occlusal caries in the primary dentition that stretches no more than a third of the way through enamel and dentition and enamel lesions in the permanent teeth.
Placing dental sealants has no specific contraindications. Excellent moisture control is required during fissure sealant placement for resin fissure tooth sealants to be successful. If moisture control cannot be achieved, Ionomer fissure sealants should be used until moisture control is sufficient enough to use resin fissure sealants.
How To Care For Tooth Sealants?
The most important step in maintaining your dental sealants is practicing a good oral health care routine daily. To ensure your sealants last ten years, brush your teeth twice daily for two minutes at a time, floss at least once daily, and use fluoride toothpaste.
It’s also critical to avoid using your teeth for anything but eating. This includes not using your teeth to open a bottle or rip packaging. Going for checkups and regular cleaning is another important step in caring for your teeth.
Concluding Thoughts
As you can see, dental sealants can be applied on top of your child’s teeth to protect them from germs that cause gum disease and tooth decay. Sealants are most efficacious in the first four years after application. Nonetheless, sealants should be checked by your teeth sealants specialist regularly to make sure there is no untimely wear or damage that could lead to decay.
Tooth sealants will remain effective in reducing the risk of tooth decay or gum disease if your child avoids damaging behaviors and encourages good oral hygiene. Consider consulting a professional Family Dentist at Highland Park and ensure healthy teeth for your kids.
To schedule your next appointment give us a call at Lasting Smiles at Highland Park in today!
